It is appalling that the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can get away with murdering and terrorizing Filipino citizens and is even lavished with financial, military and political support by the governments of the United States of America, Netherlands and the European Union. More appalling is that the movement responsible for the liberation and democratization of Philippine society is criminalized by these governments and declared as terrorists… We condemn the criminalization of the liberation forces of the Philippines and demand the removal of the CPP, the NPA, Armando Liwanag and Prof. Jose Maria Sison from the so-called terrorist lists of the US, Netherlands and the Council of the European Union.
Resolution supporting the Filipino peoples' struggle for national liberation and democracy and demanding the removal of the CPP, the NPA and Prof. Jose Maria Sison from “terrorist” lists of the US, Netherlands and the Council of the European Union
Please signify your agreement to sign the resolution by sending an email to [email protected] cc: [email protected] specifying the name of your party/organization.
Resolution supporting the Filipino peoples' struggle for national liberation and democracy and demanding the removal of the CPP, the NPA and Prof. Jose Maria Sison from “terrorist” lists of the US, Netherlands and the Council of the European Union
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There is an ongoing civil war in the Philippines between the oppressed toiling masses of the workers, peasants and petty bourgeoisie on the one hand and US imperialism and the exploiting classes of the comprador big bourgeoisie and landlords, on the other. The local exploiting classes and the interests of US imperialism are currently represented by the brutal regime of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
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The Communist Party of the Philippines represents and leads the revolutionary forces of the toiling masses in this civil war, with the ultimate objectives of overthrowing the local exploiting classes, liberating Philippine society from US imperialism and foreign domination, fulfilling the democratic demands of the toiling masses, establishing the People's Democratic Republic of the Philippines and initiating socialist construction and development. The New People's Army is the main weapon of the toiling masses in seizing and dismantling the political power of the exploiting classes.
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More than one hundred years of US imperialist domination over the Philippines has resulted in ever-worsening poverty and repression against the Filipino people. The US government's declaration in 2003 of the Philippines as the “second front in the war against terror” is serving to justify intensified intervention in the country and increased support to the illegitimate, corrupt and brutal Arroyo puppet regime. Increased US support has emboldened the Arroyo regime to unleash all-out war and repression against the armed revolutionary forces in the countryside and the legal mass movement in the towns and cities.
Various human rights organizations, such as the Asian Human Rights Commission, Human Rights Watch, International Association of People's Lawyers and Amnesty International, have called the attention of the regime and the international community to the almost daily occurrences of political assassinations, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests of the political opposition and bloody dispersal of mass mobilizations, all perpetrated by the regime. The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal in March 2007 declared the government of the USA and the Arroyo regime guilty of crimes against humanity. Also in 2007, the UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston reported that the Armed Forces of the Philippines are “in complete denial” over the occurrence of extra-judicial killings in the country.
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Perversely, the US government designated the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army as terrorist organizations on 09 August 2002. On 12 August 2002, it designated CPP Founding Chairman Professor Jose Maria Sison also as a terrorist and ordered the freezing of the assets of the CPP, the NPA and Prof. Sison. Without presenting any evidence or engaging in any fair hearing, the government of the Netherlands on 13 August – the following day – did likewise by declaring the CPP, the NPA and CPP Chairperson Armando Liwanag as terrorists. The Council of the European Union followed the cue of the US and the Netherlands on 12 October by declaring the NPA and Prof. Sison as terrorists.
- Prof. Sison subsequently filed suits against the Dutch government and the Council of the European Union, declaring that he is not and has never been a terrorist; neither has he ever had any ties with international terrorism; he plays an important role in ongoing peace negotiations with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines as the Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines; and that the current leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the revolutionary movement is physically based in the Philippines.
The European Court of First Instance on 11 July 2007 annulled the EU Council listing of Prof. Sison as a terrorist, declaring that the EU Council infringed on Prof. Sison's rights to defense, on the obligation to state reasons and the on the right to effective judicial protection. However, the EU Council reinstated Prof. Sison on its terrorist list on 30 June, even before the Court annulled the 2002 listing. The suit against the Dutch government is still pending.
Meanwhile, solidarity actions have been ongoing around the world to demand the removal of Prof. Sison from the so-called terrorist listing and condemn the criminalization of the Philippine revolutionary movement.
- It is appalling that the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo can get away with murdering and terrorizing Filipino citizens and is even lavished with financial, military and political support by the governments of the US, Netherlands and the European Union. More appalling is that the movement responsible for the liberation and democratization of Philippine society is criminalized by these governments and declared as terrorists.
We condemn the criminalization of the liberation forces of the Philippines and demand the removal of the CPP, the NPA, Armando Liwanag and Prof. Jose Maria Sison from the so-called terrorist lists of the US, Netherlands and the Council of the European Union.
We condemn the illegitimate Arroyo regime for its puppetry to US imperialism and for the brutal repression it is unleashing against the revolutionary forces and the legal progressive movement.
We support the Filipino people in their struggle for national liberation and democracy.
Signatories (as of 20 June 2008):
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Algeria: Parti Algérien pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme
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Armenia: Progressive Communist Party of Armenia
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Belgium: Workers Party of Belgium
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Cuba: Partido Comunista de Cuba
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Denmark: Danish Communist Party
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France: Pôle Renaissance Communiste en France
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France: Union des Révolutionnaires-Communistes de France
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Germany: Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
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Germany: Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD)
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Greece: Communist Organization of Greece / Kommounistiki Organosi Elladas (KOE)
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Italy: Committees to Support Resistance – for Communism (CARC)
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Italy: Rete dei Comunisti
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Lao PDR: Lao People's Revolutionary Party
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Malta: Communist Party of Malta
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Mexico: Popular Socialist Party of Mexico
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Netherlands: GML / RodeMorgen
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Norway: Rødt (Red Party)
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Russia: Russian Communist Workers' Party – Revolutionary Party of Communists
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Spain: Partido Comunista de los Pueblos de España
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Sudan: Sudanese Communist Party
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Sweden: Communist Party – Sweden
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Tunisia: Parti du Travail Patriotique et Démocratique de Tunisie
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Ukraine: Union of Communists
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United Kingdom: Communist Party of Great Britain (ML)
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United States of America: Freedom Road Socialist Organization
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United States of America: Revolutionary Organization of Labor, USA (formerly Ray O. Light Group)
Please signify your agreement to sign the resolution by sending an email to [email protected] cc: [email protected] specifying the name of your party/organization.
